It will not just be Finland, but all of the former Russian Empire.
Zhirinovsky's Russian Empire
- Thread starter Pellegrino
- Start date
It will not just be Finland, but all of the former Russian Empire.
I think what will make this TL particularly chilling is that Z won't go so overboard. It seems he'll mess around enough for a nasty dystopic 90's in Eurasia but as we already know he will last until 2003! And Lebed replaces him! And he's not reviled in the (Russian parts of) the UIS! This world won't truly realize they are in a dystopia but will shrug it off in a "poor Russia never gets a break" sort of way
An interesting and well-researched TL, Pellegrino Shots! I'll be keeping an eye on this one...
There is not a lot in Europe that was actually part of the Russian Empire but not the USSR, apart from Finland. Parts of Poland and that is pretty much it.
There is not a lot in Europe that was actually part of the Russian Empire but not the USSR, apart from Finland. Parts of Poland and that is pretty much it.
In another world, they're reading a book where Russia frees itself of communism but turns into an ultra-capitalist libertarian dystopia for a decade and the Chechens start acting up and finally it takes an ex-KGB strongman to straighten things out and they shake their heads at the thought of Paneuropeanism never arising.
That's dead on. Your outline reminds me of the Thread "Things that look like AH but are not". Actually, your take on things kinda makes me wonder if TTL will in fact be a dystopia for Russia compared to the less-than-pleasant 90's they got OTL..
PART SEVEN - A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR AHEAD
PART SEVEN - A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR AHEAD
Excerpts from the book “Three Days in Moscow” by Edward Ellis.
Published by Random House © 1999
Moscow, USSR. August 20, 1991. 9:38 P.M.
The arrival of Vladimir Zhirinovsky outside the White House had an immediate effect on the crowd, some of whom regarded the Liberal Democratic leader with either suspicion or disdain. For supporters of Mikhail Arutyunov, Zhirinovsky was initially greeted with scorn.
“At first he looked like a sheep being led into the Lion’s den,” commented Yuri Rozhnov, an Arutyunov supporter who was present, “he looked overwhelmed. And when he started reading the prepared statement the crowd became restless.”
Zhirinovsky initially called for calm and for an end to violence, but many in the crowd who surrounded Zhirinovsky began to shout him down.
“They are beating us!’ some of the protesters began to yell, in reference to the increased pressure from security forces. The phrase grew into a chant, drowning out Zhirinovsky’s attempts to call for calm.
“I honestly would not have been surprised if he just turned away and ran,” Rozhnov would recall, “but then he said something that won the crowd instantly.”
“My fellow Russians!” Zhirinovsky yelled as he tore up the prepared statement, “Nobody will dare beat you again!”
20 years ago: Trembling in the midst of Soviet coup
By John Makela, NBC News correspondent
August 21, 2011
Watching the trembling Zhirinovsky try and read a prepared statement, most of us with the press thought that his tenure as head of state would end as abruptly as it began. We heard rumors that this alleged extreme nationalist was also one of the most powerful speakers in Russian politics. But as we stood there watching him tremble as he read from that prepared statement, with the crowd becoming angrier at his calls for calm, it looked as if the great compromise would fall apart before it even took off. But a curious thing then occurred. People started chanting “They are beating us!” in reference to the military and police. Although orders had come down from the “Gang of Eight”, the committee was fractured beyond repair and some troops were slow in carrying out the order. Nonetheless, in those places where the authorities did crack down, they did so with extreme force. This had created a tinderbox, with a small number of badly beaten Muscovites straggling into the restless crowd from other parts of the city. These injured protesters enflamed the others with tales of government brutality.
I suddenly was taken back to Kosovo in 1987, when Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic was bombarded with similar chants from fellow Serbs in reference to the heavy handed tactics of the Yugoslavian authorities. “By God,” I thought, “they are throwing him a softball!”
I knew that Zhirinovsky was an admirer of Milosevic, and I could see in his eyes that he saw an opening. He struggled with his speech calling for peace because he never really believed in peace. He was a nationalist, not a democrat as many of us in the West wanted to believe in 1991.
“Nobody will dare beat you again!” Zhirinovsky yelled as he tore up the prepared statement. The statement electrified the crowd, who now embraced Zhirinovsky with considerable gusto, “For far too long, the Russian people have been beaten. Beaten by those who wish to see us relegated to the role of serfs in our own country! But the era of serfdom ends today! We will not bow down to the Turks! And we will never bow down to those who will try and rob us of our dignity!”
The crowd erupted, and even those of us from the press seemed to overlook that one word: ‘Turks’. We were so caught up in this call for “dignity” and freedom that we didn’t stop and listen to the speech for what it was: xenophobia. For many in the crowd, the recognition of an oppressed Russia was enough to win them over. They now had a president who wasn’t afraid to say what they, and the rest of the world, knew was true: that they were being oppressed. Perhaps this will signal a new era in Russia we all thought.
Zhirinovsky then followed the statement with a command, for all “ethnic Russian troops, loyal to their country” to refrain from beating any of the protesters at the White House or Gorky Park.
We didn’t realize the significance of the caveat, but with that one phrase, he was able to sell his original message in opposition to the riots. He reiterated his call for calm and even told those same Russian soldiers to quash the riots with all of the means at their disposal…just not at the White House or Gorky Park.
I always wondered if Zhirinovsky’s Serbian speech (as the press so scornfully called it that day) was in fact planned. Was it like the original Milosevic speech in Kosovo, an instinctive statement, or did he know what sort of impact it would have on Russian ears. It is hard to say, but I have come to learn from watching Zhirinovsky over the years, one can never underestimate his ability to manipulate any situation to his advantage…and to his agenda.
The riots were already teetering out when he gave that speech. And contact with Gorbachev had just been reestablished. The funny thing about Vladimir Zhirinovsky is this: he is always a day late, and yet he still ends up a dollar ahead.
Soviet Coup Attempt Fails
Gorbachev Returning To Moscow;
Plotters on the Run; Prosecutor Sees `Signs Of A State Crime`
August 21, 1991
By Vincent J. Shanks,
Chicago Tribune.
MOSCOW — A coup aimed at unseating Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, reversing his reforms and crushing the Democratic Russia coalition, headed by former Russian president Boris Yeltsin collapsed Wednesday in the face of violent riots and overwhelming public opposition to the coup leaders.
Staged by hard-line Kremlin conservatives and opponents of political and economic reform, the coup lasted three days. Despite the failure of the coup in succeeding, Russian and Soviet pro democratic forces paid a heavy price after the assassination of President Yeltsin prompted violent riots that nearly spiraled into civil war. Over the course of the three days, many people massed in the hundreds of thousands in cities all across the Soviet Union to display their support for Gorbachev and newly appointed Russian head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
The coup’s failure may have sounded the death knell for the Communist Party, as newly appointed Russian head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky, founder of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, has railed against the Communist Party in his first speech as leader of the largest Soviet republic. After promising that the government would not “dare beat you anymore” he then called on Russians to condemn the riots and even indicated a desire to scrap the “untenable political fiction” that is the government of the Soviet Union, and replace it with one committed to defending the “Russian people.”
Whether or not Zhirinovsky can implement any real change is yet to be seen. Vice President Rutskoy has also released a statement to the press indicating a desire to end the speculation as to succession and to be sworn in as president of Russia. Also, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has indicated in his first public address since communication had been restored, that despite the events over the last three days, he is unwilling to abandon the Communist Party. However, early reports are that at least a dozen Russian politicians and military leaders have renounced their Communist Party membership and joined the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, including most recently Colonel Alexander Lebed.
What appears clear is that the hard-liners and right-wingers of the Communist Party have been seriously weakened by the events over the last three days. The Soviet Parliament met to formally reinstate Gorbachev as president. It also ruled illegal all decrees and orders issued by the coup committee and listed the curfew in Moscow.
Gorbachev had been on vacation in the Crimea when the coup began. At 1:30 p.m. Chicago time Wednesday he was reported on a plane back to Moscow.
“The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR rules that the removal of President Mikhail Gorbachev from his constitutional duties and their transfer to the Vice President was illegal,” the official news agency Tass reported, quoting from the presidium’s decree.
The presidium also announced it was setting up an investigating commission to search for the conspirators in the coup.
The Soviet prosecutor general’s office announced it also would pursue a criminal investigation into the actions of the members of the coup committee. Tass said the prosecutor’s early review of the case discovered “signs of a state crime.”
After a tense night, the announcement that the coup was over was greeted by a spontaneous celebration that was echoed in other Soviet cities. Tow trucks began to remove the buses, cars and debris that the protesters and rioters used to construct big barricades around the Russian Federation Building. Groups of supporters cheered, flipped victory signs at passersby and listened intently to their portable radios.
Although there were still groups of soldiers standing around with their equipment, there was an almost overwhelming sense of relaxation in the capital city. Most of the remaining soldiers have declared their loyalty to the Russian opposition.
“It was clear to us that the Soviet government was worthless,” one officer said in reference to the coup leaders, “but the Russian government proved it mettle yesterday.”
When asked if this was a statement of support of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the soldier responded angrily.
“What this proves is you can’t have a government full of Turks, and Georgians, and non-Russians and expect Russia to end up being treated fairly. We’ve seen that giving those Republics anything was a mistake. Now it is time to get rid of the Union and give each citizen one vote in a united country that is committed to justice.
Excerpts from the book “Three Days in Moscow” by Edward Ellis.
Published by Random House © 1999
Moscow, USSR. August 20, 1991. 9:38 P.M.
The arrival of Vladimir Zhirinovsky outside the White House had an immediate effect on the crowd, some of whom regarded the Liberal Democratic leader with either suspicion or disdain. For supporters of Mikhail Arutyunov, Zhirinovsky was initially greeted with scorn.
“At first he looked like a sheep being led into the Lion’s den,” commented Yuri Rozhnov, an Arutyunov supporter who was present, “he looked overwhelmed. And when he started reading the prepared statement the crowd became restless.”
Zhirinovsky initially called for calm and for an end to violence, but many in the crowd who surrounded Zhirinovsky began to shout him down.
“They are beating us!’ some of the protesters began to yell, in reference to the increased pressure from security forces. The phrase grew into a chant, drowning out Zhirinovsky’s attempts to call for calm.
“I honestly would not have been surprised if he just turned away and ran,” Rozhnov would recall, “but then he said something that won the crowd instantly.”
“My fellow Russians!” Zhirinovsky yelled as he tore up the prepared statement, “Nobody will dare beat you again!”
20 years ago: Trembling in the midst of Soviet coup
By John Makela, NBC News correspondent
August 21, 2011
Watching the trembling Zhirinovsky try and read a prepared statement, most of us with the press thought that his tenure as head of state would end as abruptly as it began. We heard rumors that this alleged extreme nationalist was also one of the most powerful speakers in Russian politics. But as we stood there watching him tremble as he read from that prepared statement, with the crowd becoming angrier at his calls for calm, it looked as if the great compromise would fall apart before it even took off. But a curious thing then occurred. People started chanting “They are beating us!” in reference to the military and police. Although orders had come down from the “Gang of Eight”, the committee was fractured beyond repair and some troops were slow in carrying out the order. Nonetheless, in those places where the authorities did crack down, they did so with extreme force. This had created a tinderbox, with a small number of badly beaten Muscovites straggling into the restless crowd from other parts of the city. These injured protesters enflamed the others with tales of government brutality.
I suddenly was taken back to Kosovo in 1987, when Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic was bombarded with similar chants from fellow Serbs in reference to the heavy handed tactics of the Yugoslavian authorities. “By God,” I thought, “they are throwing him a softball!”
I knew that Zhirinovsky was an admirer of Milosevic, and I could see in his eyes that he saw an opening. He struggled with his speech calling for peace because he never really believed in peace. He was a nationalist, not a democrat as many of us in the West wanted to believe in 1991.
“Nobody will dare beat you again!” Zhirinovsky yelled as he tore up the prepared statement. The statement electrified the crowd, who now embraced Zhirinovsky with considerable gusto, “For far too long, the Russian people have been beaten. Beaten by those who wish to see us relegated to the role of serfs in our own country! But the era of serfdom ends today! We will not bow down to the Turks! And we will never bow down to those who will try and rob us of our dignity!”
The crowd erupted, and even those of us from the press seemed to overlook that one word: ‘Turks’. We were so caught up in this call for “dignity” and freedom that we didn’t stop and listen to the speech for what it was: xenophobia. For many in the crowd, the recognition of an oppressed Russia was enough to win them over. They now had a president who wasn’t afraid to say what they, and the rest of the world, knew was true: that they were being oppressed. Perhaps this will signal a new era in Russia we all thought.
Zhirinovsky then followed the statement with a command, for all “ethnic Russian troops, loyal to their country” to refrain from beating any of the protesters at the White House or Gorky Park.
We didn’t realize the significance of the caveat, but with that one phrase, he was able to sell his original message in opposition to the riots. He reiterated his call for calm and even told those same Russian soldiers to quash the riots with all of the means at their disposal…just not at the White House or Gorky Park.
I always wondered if Zhirinovsky’s Serbian speech (as the press so scornfully called it that day) was in fact planned. Was it like the original Milosevic speech in Kosovo, an instinctive statement, or did he know what sort of impact it would have on Russian ears. It is hard to say, but I have come to learn from watching Zhirinovsky over the years, one can never underestimate his ability to manipulate any situation to his advantage…and to his agenda.
The riots were already teetering out when he gave that speech. And contact with Gorbachev had just been reestablished. The funny thing about Vladimir Zhirinovsky is this: he is always a day late, and yet he still ends up a dollar ahead.
Soviet Coup Attempt Fails
Gorbachev Returning To Moscow;
Plotters on the Run; Prosecutor Sees `Signs Of A State Crime`
August 21, 1991
By Vincent J. Shanks,
Chicago Tribune.
MOSCOW — A coup aimed at unseating Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, reversing his reforms and crushing the Democratic Russia coalition, headed by former Russian president Boris Yeltsin collapsed Wednesday in the face of violent riots and overwhelming public opposition to the coup leaders.
Staged by hard-line Kremlin conservatives and opponents of political and economic reform, the coup lasted three days. Despite the failure of the coup in succeeding, Russian and Soviet pro democratic forces paid a heavy price after the assassination of President Yeltsin prompted violent riots that nearly spiraled into civil war. Over the course of the three days, many people massed in the hundreds of thousands in cities all across the Soviet Union to display their support for Gorbachev and newly appointed Russian head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
The coup’s failure may have sounded the death knell for the Communist Party, as newly appointed Russian head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky, founder of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, has railed against the Communist Party in his first speech as leader of the largest Soviet republic. After promising that the government would not “dare beat you anymore” he then called on Russians to condemn the riots and even indicated a desire to scrap the “untenable political fiction” that is the government of the Soviet Union, and replace it with one committed to defending the “Russian people.”
Whether or not Zhirinovsky can implement any real change is yet to be seen. Vice President Rutskoy has also released a statement to the press indicating a desire to end the speculation as to succession and to be sworn in as president of Russia. Also, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has indicated in his first public address since communication had been restored, that despite the events over the last three days, he is unwilling to abandon the Communist Party. However, early reports are that at least a dozen Russian politicians and military leaders have renounced their Communist Party membership and joined the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, including most recently Colonel Alexander Lebed.
What appears clear is that the hard-liners and right-wingers of the Communist Party have been seriously weakened by the events over the last three days. The Soviet Parliament met to formally reinstate Gorbachev as president. It also ruled illegal all decrees and orders issued by the coup committee and listed the curfew in Moscow.
Gorbachev had been on vacation in the Crimea when the coup began. At 1:30 p.m. Chicago time Wednesday he was reported on a plane back to Moscow.
“The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR rules that the removal of President Mikhail Gorbachev from his constitutional duties and their transfer to the Vice President was illegal,” the official news agency Tass reported, quoting from the presidium’s decree.
The presidium also announced it was setting up an investigating commission to search for the conspirators in the coup.
The Soviet prosecutor general’s office announced it also would pursue a criminal investigation into the actions of the members of the coup committee. Tass said the prosecutor’s early review of the case discovered “signs of a state crime.”
After a tense night, the announcement that the coup was over was greeted by a spontaneous celebration that was echoed in other Soviet cities. Tow trucks began to remove the buses, cars and debris that the protesters and rioters used to construct big barricades around the Russian Federation Building. Groups of supporters cheered, flipped victory signs at passersby and listened intently to their portable radios.
Although there were still groups of soldiers standing around with their equipment, there was an almost overwhelming sense of relaxation in the capital city. Most of the remaining soldiers have declared their loyalty to the Russian opposition.
“It was clear to us that the Soviet government was worthless,” one officer said in reference to the coup leaders, “but the Russian government proved it mettle yesterday.”
When asked if this was a statement of support of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the soldier responded angrily.
“What this proves is you can’t have a government full of Turks, and Georgians, and non-Russians and expect Russia to end up being treated fairly. We’ve seen that giving those Republics anything was a mistake. Now it is time to get rid of the Union and give each citizen one vote in a united country that is committed to justice.
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Trust me, Zhirinovsky has not even begin to scratch the surface. You'll see some developments in the next few post that will set a new level of Bonapartism in Russia
PART EIGHT: THE OLIVE BRANCH
PART EIGHT: THE OLIVE BRANCH
“My Russia- An Autobiography by former Russian Prime Minister Gennady Burbulis”
Published by Interbook, © 1998
CHAPTER TEN
As soon as it was announced that Russian Soviet President Gorbachev returned I saw an immediate change in Vice President Rutskoy. He recognized that he made a tremendous mistake in not accepting the opportunity to be sworn in as president, and he was scrambling to undo the damage that his indecisiveness had caused. As Vladimir Zhirinovsky walked into the White House after his controversial Serbian speech, we all greeted him cordially. Except Mr. Rutskoy, who simply nodded and plotted his ascension into power. Oddly enough, it at first looked like he would succeed. The agreement was for Mr. Zhirinovsky to be head-of-state for only 72-hours or until order was restored. As Mr. Zhirinovsky prepared to leave the White House and go to the airport to meet with President Gorbachev, he was intercepted by Mr. Rutskoy, who bluntly told him that “your services to the country are no longer needed.” Mr. Zhirinovsky angrily shot back that he was still head-of-state, but to no avail. Mr. Rutskoy coldly responded that he would be sworn in at the next meeting of the Russian Duma, and that for right now Mr. Zhirinovsky needn’t worry about “complex matters of politics.”
Mr. Zhirinovsky’s face turned beat red with anger. I knew we had a problem, but to be honest, we all despised Mr. Rutskoy at that moment. We were probably all silently hoping Zhirinovsky would put him in his place.
“Mr. Ivanenko,” Zhirinovsky fired back, “please tell Mr. Rutskoy who is in charge here.”
“Comrades, we will have time to settle this later today when the Russian Congress meets to hear President Gorbachev speak,” Mr. Ivanenko said as he rubbed his eyes in frustration, “right now we have other matters to focus on.”
“And who will greet Mr. Gorbachev?” Mr. Rutskoy demanded.
Mr. Ivanenko looked at Vice President Rutskoy with a look of disgust and apathy.
“Fine, if you insist, you can meet Mr. Gorbachev and Prime Minister Silayev at the airport.”
"Kingmaker of the Coup"
Foreign Affairs (2/22/10)
by Victor Ivanenko and Mary Kerr
For the first time, Boris Yeltsin's former right-hand man tells the inside story of the coup that destroyed the Soviet Union-- and changed the world.
As Vladimir Zhirinovsky stormed out of the White House, Gennady Burbulis turned to General Ivanenko, who was visibly upset.
“This could lead to war,” Ivanenko said, “if we don’t get control of those two idiots.”
Yuri Luzhkov, the deputy mayor of Moscow, smiled as he put his hand on Ivanenko’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry comrade,” he said with a chuckle, “it is up to the Russian Parliament to sort this out now. And now they can see that neither Rutskoy nor Zhirinovsky is a viable choice. They will remove Zhirinovsky as head of state, impeach Rutskoy, and afterwards Gennady Burbulis will be sworn in as president and Ivan Silayev will be named head of Parliament. The important thing is we stopped the coup.”
Ivanenko and Burbulis remained troubled nonetheless.
“And what about those two,” Burbulis said nervously, “one of those two still leads the country.”
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev after arriving in Moscow after the failed coup (August 21, 1991). Standing behind him is Russian Vice-President Alexander Rutskoy
AFTER THE COUP: ZHIRINOVSKY IS ROUTING COMMUNIST PARTY FROM KEY ROLES THROUGHOUT RUSSIA; HE FORCES VAST GORBACHEV SHAKE-UP
New York Times
Published: August 23, 1991
A massive political shock wave swept through the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the failed coup today as the Communist Party began to implode across the nation and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev yielded to the demands of both the newly appointed Russian acting head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Vice President Alexander Rutskoy, who has declared himself president of the Russian republic.
Mr. Gorbachev, struggling to regain his role as leader of the nation after three days as a hostage during a failed coup by hard-line Communists, spoke before the Russian Republic's Parliament. During his appearance, broadcast on national television, he found himself facing an openly hostile and shockingly abusive audience. He was heckled by the lawmakers for remaining loyal to the Communist Party after the national ordeal of the last five days.
Mr. Rutskoy, who never concealed his contempt towards Mr. Gorbachev, spent much of the day prodding the Soviet leader for more power-sharing and signing fresh writs to shut down the Communist Party's newspapers and severely limit its activities on Russian soil. However, he appeared to be outflanked by Mr. Zhirinovsky, who in turn forced Mr. Gorbachev to replace his whole Cabinet and name many replacements loyal to the Liberal Democratic leader. Perhaps most noteworthy was the promotion of Colonel Alexander Lebed to General, and his subsequent appointment as Marshall of the Soviet Union. Lebed replaces the disgraced Dmitry Yazov, who was arrested for his role as part of the failed coup.
Rutskoy’s move against the Party was duplicated across the Soviet Union, as a wave of indignation and demands for change swept from Estonia to Central Asia.
The mood of increased anger against both the Communist Party and the K.G.B. has created an air of uncertainty. While President Gorbachev warned against a "witch hunt," many officials rushed to join both Mr. Rutskoy and Mr. Zhirinovsky in calling for a reformed system.
“The Communist Party is dead,” Mr. Zhirinovsky said to Gorbachev on national television, “and your choice is to live with a free Russia or die with the communists.”
The statement brought many of the members of the Russian parliament to their feet in cheers.
Newspapers Locked Up
The party's newspapers and offices were being locked up or were being handed over to local leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party. Publication of Pravda, the once-dominant party newspaper which supported the coup, was suspended and turned over to the newly appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces: General Viktor Dubynin.
Though the anti-communist drive appeared to be gaining momentum, thus far the opposition has been badly fractured by political bickering and in-fighting, created a vacuum with the numerous opposition leaders and groups. This uncertainty over the future of the Soviet Union appeared to be heightened by the murky shape of power-sharing between the Kremlin and republics, and between Mr. Rutskoy, Mr. Gorbachev, and Mr. Zhirinovsky.
However, for many insiders, it appeared that the shift of executive power was tilting in favor of Mr. Zhirinovsky. His eulogy for the Communist Party won him supporters from numerous unlikely sources, including many in the military.
While President Gorbachev argued that it was unfair to blame all Communists for the failed coup, he found himself increasingly isolated politically as crowds, often backed up by the local authorities, brought down Lenin statues all over the country. In Russia, many of the statutes are also being defaced with graffiti after being brought down, often with the initials LDP (the initials of Zhirinovsky’s Liberal Democratic Party).
CNN interview with Jack Matlock, former ambassador to the USSR
August 18, 2000
CNN: So how did Vladimir Zhirinovsky so effectively consolidate power in just two days?
Matlock: The problem was that Gorbachev was a lame duck, but nobody realized that yet. The only chance he had was to renounce the Communist Party, because all over Russia and the Soviet Union statutes of Lenin were being torn down and Communist Party buildings were being taken over by local authorities. But he didn’t, and when Vice President Rutskoy went to the airport to meet Russian Prime Minister Ivan Silayev and Gorbachev, he really was tying himself to a sinking ship. Meanwhile Vladimir Zhirinovsky was wheeling and dealing with these politicians who had, in contrast, become rudderless ships. When Gorbachev started speaking to the Russian Parliament it didn’t take long to turn into a witch hunt. First, you had reformers who were calling for the immediate dissolution of the Soviet Union, which frightened nationalists. Then you had Alexander Rutskoy, who emerged as so discredited during the coup that the very idea of him being named president was appalling to both reformers and hardliners. And now communists were terrified of being “thrown under the bus” like Anatoly Lukyanov had been. It was a perfect combination that allowed Zhirinovsky to turn the Soviet Union into a fascist dictatorship in one day.
CNN: How did he do that?
Matlock: He threw them all a lifeline.
GORBACHEV HECKLED AS COMMUNIST PARTY COLLAPSES
Soviet Parliament Chairman Anatoly Lukyanov, who was present during the session of the Russian Parliament, listens to accusations agaisnt him during the session
August 22, 1991
USA Today
Russian lawmakers made no secret of how little authority Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev retained after his arrest during the failed hard line coup this week. In front of TV cameras broadcasting to a national television audience they interrupted Mr. Gorbachev's address with heckling and demands that he abandon the Communist Party and dislodge it from its position in the Soviet government.
Gorbachev remained firmly on the defensive as three emerging factions of the opposition took turns attacking Mr. Gorbachev. Vice President Alexander Rutskoy and Russian head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky took turns making demands of the Soviet leader, who meekly complied with most of them. A third lawmaker, Mikhail Arutyunov, also attacked Mr. Gorbachev, although he failed to make any demand except his insistence on Mr. Gorbachev proclaiming the “dissolution of the Soviet Union.”
Mr. Gorbachev finally drew a positive, rousing response from lawmakers when he said "This whole Government has got to resign."
While a handful of the more reform minded members of Mr. Gorbachev's inner circle have already quit the Communist Party and joined forces with one of the three emerging factions of the opposition, a large number of communists, both Gorbachev loyalist and hardliners, find themselves increasingly isolated in this new political environment.
During the session, the Premier of the Russian Republic, Ivan Silayev, charged that Chairman of the Soviet Parliament Anatoly Lukyanov, Mr. Gorbachev's friend and most trusted aide, was "the chief ideologist of this junta."
Mr. Gorbachev, whom Mr. Lukyanov met when they attended law school together nearly forty years ago, said he had met with his old friend, but still had some questions of the loyalty of his long time aid. With the Soviet Parliament to meet in an emergency session of the legislature on Monday, the governing presidium of the Soviet Parliament announced that Mr. Lukyanov would not preside over the proceedings until the investigation to establish his role in the crisis reached a conclusion.
A new prime minister had not yet been named to replace Valentin S. Pavlov, who was one of the leaders of the coup and has been hospitalized under police guard since the coup ended.
In related news, several junta members were arrested including Dmitri Yazov, Vladimir A. Kryuchkov, General Valentin I. Varennikov, Valery Boldin, Vladimir A. Kryuchkov, and Gennady Yanayev. Coup plotter Boris Pugo committed suicide earlier today.
While Vice President Rutskoy and Deputy Mikhail Arutyunov called for the resignation of other members of both the Russian Supreme Soviet and the Supreme Soviet of the Union, Russian head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky indicated that he was not interested in “purges” but rather preserving the “Union.”
Excerpts from the book “Three Days in Moscow” by Edward Ellis.
Published by Random House © 1999
Moscow, USSR. August 22, 1991. 1:33 P.M.
As Gorbachev became even more marginalized during the course of the parliamentary hearing, the mood soon switched to one of radical extremism. Rutskoy, who was perhaps the only man more unpopular that Gorbachev at that point, resorted to “writs” issued in his name to shut down the Communist Party; writs that carried no authority. However, several members of the opposition screamed at Rutskoy for “writing the book for the Lithuanians and Ukrainians” on independence, noting that the other republics were following his lead and using the purge on the Communist Party to rid themselves of central authority.
“We should have democracy across the Soviet Union,” shouted one reformist deputy, “not just in Russia.”
“What about our countrymen who find themselves across some invisible line Stalin drew across the middle of the country?” asked one Liberal Democratic deputy, “are they to suffer at the hands of the barbarians so that you can have absolute power in a rump Russia?”
Rutskoy, perhaps recognizing that the mood was quickly turning against him, and recognizing chants from deputies to explain his actions during the coup, attempted to turn attention towards the one man who even his enemies could agree was more culpable for the sad state of affairs of the country: Mikhail Gorbachev.
Constantly demeaning and berating the Soviet president, Rutskoy tried to garner support to his position through increased bullying tactics, which in turn served only to alienate many of the moderates. Before long the mood had turned into one of a Stalinist era purge.
“When Russian Prime Minister Ivan Silayev called for the Chairman of the Soviet Parliament Anatoly Lukyanov’s head, we all sunk in our chairs,” commented one deputy from the Communist Party, “they were going after all of us, even the moderates. Anyone who was a communist was about to be accused of treason, and Gorbachev refused to stand up for us. If he couldn’t stand up for his friend, what hope did we have?”
It was at that time that Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who had just moments ago declared the Communist Party “dead”, single-handedly put the final nail in the coffin of both the Communist Party and the political aspirations of Vice President Rutskoy.
“You are all traitors!” he yelled as he turned towards the Parliament, “the communists are finished, we can all see that! But you still want to drag their corpse through the streets of Moscow while the barbarians and the Zionists are dragging our Russian brothers through the streets of Baku, and Riga, and Kiev! I say, put aside your anger at the communists and embrace your country, your Russian country which calls to you right now in desperation!”
Zhirinovsky then turned to Gorbachev and pointed his finger at the Soviet leader.
“Mr. President, the Communist Party is dead,” Mr. Zhirinovsky yelled, “and your choice is to live with a free Russia or die with the communists. Your loyalty to the party is understandable, but your loyalty to your country should come first. Will you join us?”
Gorbachev looked visibly shaken at the statement, as he meekly tried to defend the Party, calling on lawmakers not to blame all communists for the actions of a few. But Zhirinovsky interrupted him and again turned to his fellow members of Parliament, and spoke the words that would go down in history.
“Comrades,” he yelled, “we must act now. I will hereby declare that the era of purges in Russia is over! I am not Stalin! I do not wish to have show trials, I want freedom! Not just for me, but for the Russian who is locked in his home right now in Riga, afraid to show his face…in his own country! To the Russian in Baku who is fearful of a pogrom against his neighbors and family…in his own country! I stand for them. And I call on all of you to join me! Join the Liberal Democrats! I promise you all this…if you reject your previous ties to the Communist Party and accept this olive branch I offer, and accept the membership in the Liberal Democratic Party that I hereby offer to you right now, I will not seek any retribution nor will I seek any purges. I want what you want, a free and democratic country, and our country needs us now! Stand with me and purge your sins against Mother Russia from your conscience and know that your grandchildren will call you ‘patriot’ when they speak of you to their grandchildren! Join us and let us defend democracy and freedom for all Russians!”
For the first time that day the halls of the Russian Parliament was silent. None spoke as Zhirinovsky held his arms out as if being crucified on an invisible cross. President Gorbachev looked disapprovingly at Zhirinovsky, who still held himself in the comical stance in a desperate call for allies. Gorbachev was prepared to speak when he was again interrupted, only this time it was not a Russian deputy who stopped him in his tracks. Gorbachev looked on with horror as the spectator stood up.
“Comrade Zhirinovsky,” Soviet Parliamentary Chairman Anatoly Lukyanov said as he walked past his lifetime friend Mikhail Gorbachev and towards the podium, “I accept your offer of amnesty and hereby renounce my membership in the Communist Party.”
“My Russia- An Autobiography by former Russian Prime Minister Gennady Burbulis”
Published by Interbook, © 1998
CHAPTER TEN
As soon as it was announced that Russian Soviet President Gorbachev returned I saw an immediate change in Vice President Rutskoy. He recognized that he made a tremendous mistake in not accepting the opportunity to be sworn in as president, and he was scrambling to undo the damage that his indecisiveness had caused. As Vladimir Zhirinovsky walked into the White House after his controversial Serbian speech, we all greeted him cordially. Except Mr. Rutskoy, who simply nodded and plotted his ascension into power. Oddly enough, it at first looked like he would succeed. The agreement was for Mr. Zhirinovsky to be head-of-state for only 72-hours or until order was restored. As Mr. Zhirinovsky prepared to leave the White House and go to the airport to meet with President Gorbachev, he was intercepted by Mr. Rutskoy, who bluntly told him that “your services to the country are no longer needed.” Mr. Zhirinovsky angrily shot back that he was still head-of-state, but to no avail. Mr. Rutskoy coldly responded that he would be sworn in at the next meeting of the Russian Duma, and that for right now Mr. Zhirinovsky needn’t worry about “complex matters of politics.”
Mr. Zhirinovsky’s face turned beat red with anger. I knew we had a problem, but to be honest, we all despised Mr. Rutskoy at that moment. We were probably all silently hoping Zhirinovsky would put him in his place.
“Mr. Ivanenko,” Zhirinovsky fired back, “please tell Mr. Rutskoy who is in charge here.”
“Comrades, we will have time to settle this later today when the Russian Congress meets to hear President Gorbachev speak,” Mr. Ivanenko said as he rubbed his eyes in frustration, “right now we have other matters to focus on.”
“And who will greet Mr. Gorbachev?” Mr. Rutskoy demanded.
Mr. Ivanenko looked at Vice President Rutskoy with a look of disgust and apathy.
“Fine, if you insist, you can meet Mr. Gorbachev and Prime Minister Silayev at the airport.”
"Kingmaker of the Coup"
Foreign Affairs (2/22/10)
by Victor Ivanenko and Mary Kerr
For the first time, Boris Yeltsin's former right-hand man tells the inside story of the coup that destroyed the Soviet Union-- and changed the world.
As Vladimir Zhirinovsky stormed out of the White House, Gennady Burbulis turned to General Ivanenko, who was visibly upset.
“This could lead to war,” Ivanenko said, “if we don’t get control of those two idiots.”
Yuri Luzhkov, the deputy mayor of Moscow, smiled as he put his hand on Ivanenko’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry comrade,” he said with a chuckle, “it is up to the Russian Parliament to sort this out now. And now they can see that neither Rutskoy nor Zhirinovsky is a viable choice. They will remove Zhirinovsky as head of state, impeach Rutskoy, and afterwards Gennady Burbulis will be sworn in as president and Ivan Silayev will be named head of Parliament. The important thing is we stopped the coup.”
Ivanenko and Burbulis remained troubled nonetheless.
“And what about those two,” Burbulis said nervously, “one of those two still leads the country.”
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev after arriving in Moscow after the failed coup (August 21, 1991). Standing behind him is Russian Vice-President Alexander Rutskoy
AFTER THE COUP: ZHIRINOVSKY IS ROUTING COMMUNIST PARTY FROM KEY ROLES THROUGHOUT RUSSIA; HE FORCES VAST GORBACHEV SHAKE-UP
New York Times
Published: August 23, 1991
A massive political shock wave swept through the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the failed coup today as the Communist Party began to implode across the nation and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev yielded to the demands of both the newly appointed Russian acting head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Vice President Alexander Rutskoy, who has declared himself president of the Russian republic.
Mr. Gorbachev, struggling to regain his role as leader of the nation after three days as a hostage during a failed coup by hard-line Communists, spoke before the Russian Republic's Parliament. During his appearance, broadcast on national television, he found himself facing an openly hostile and shockingly abusive audience. He was heckled by the lawmakers for remaining loyal to the Communist Party after the national ordeal of the last five days.
Mr. Rutskoy, who never concealed his contempt towards Mr. Gorbachev, spent much of the day prodding the Soviet leader for more power-sharing and signing fresh writs to shut down the Communist Party's newspapers and severely limit its activities on Russian soil. However, he appeared to be outflanked by Mr. Zhirinovsky, who in turn forced Mr. Gorbachev to replace his whole Cabinet and name many replacements loyal to the Liberal Democratic leader. Perhaps most noteworthy was the promotion of Colonel Alexander Lebed to General, and his subsequent appointment as Marshall of the Soviet Union. Lebed replaces the disgraced Dmitry Yazov, who was arrested for his role as part of the failed coup.
Rutskoy’s move against the Party was duplicated across the Soviet Union, as a wave of indignation and demands for change swept from Estonia to Central Asia.
The mood of increased anger against both the Communist Party and the K.G.B. has created an air of uncertainty. While President Gorbachev warned against a "witch hunt," many officials rushed to join both Mr. Rutskoy and Mr. Zhirinovsky in calling for a reformed system.
“The Communist Party is dead,” Mr. Zhirinovsky said to Gorbachev on national television, “and your choice is to live with a free Russia or die with the communists.”
The statement brought many of the members of the Russian parliament to their feet in cheers.
Newspapers Locked Up
The party's newspapers and offices were being locked up or were being handed over to local leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party. Publication of Pravda, the once-dominant party newspaper which supported the coup, was suspended and turned over to the newly appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces: General Viktor Dubynin.
Though the anti-communist drive appeared to be gaining momentum, thus far the opposition has been badly fractured by political bickering and in-fighting, created a vacuum with the numerous opposition leaders and groups. This uncertainty over the future of the Soviet Union appeared to be heightened by the murky shape of power-sharing between the Kremlin and republics, and between Mr. Rutskoy, Mr. Gorbachev, and Mr. Zhirinovsky.
However, for many insiders, it appeared that the shift of executive power was tilting in favor of Mr. Zhirinovsky. His eulogy for the Communist Party won him supporters from numerous unlikely sources, including many in the military.
While President Gorbachev argued that it was unfair to blame all Communists for the failed coup, he found himself increasingly isolated politically as crowds, often backed up by the local authorities, brought down Lenin statues all over the country. In Russia, many of the statutes are also being defaced with graffiti after being brought down, often with the initials LDP (the initials of Zhirinovsky’s Liberal Democratic Party).
CNN interview with Jack Matlock, former ambassador to the USSR
August 18, 2000
CNN: So how did Vladimir Zhirinovsky so effectively consolidate power in just two days?
Matlock: The problem was that Gorbachev was a lame duck, but nobody realized that yet. The only chance he had was to renounce the Communist Party, because all over Russia and the Soviet Union statutes of Lenin were being torn down and Communist Party buildings were being taken over by local authorities. But he didn’t, and when Vice President Rutskoy went to the airport to meet Russian Prime Minister Ivan Silayev and Gorbachev, he really was tying himself to a sinking ship. Meanwhile Vladimir Zhirinovsky was wheeling and dealing with these politicians who had, in contrast, become rudderless ships. When Gorbachev started speaking to the Russian Parliament it didn’t take long to turn into a witch hunt. First, you had reformers who were calling for the immediate dissolution of the Soviet Union, which frightened nationalists. Then you had Alexander Rutskoy, who emerged as so discredited during the coup that the very idea of him being named president was appalling to both reformers and hardliners. And now communists were terrified of being “thrown under the bus” like Anatoly Lukyanov had been. It was a perfect combination that allowed Zhirinovsky to turn the Soviet Union into a fascist dictatorship in one day.
CNN: How did he do that?
Matlock: He threw them all a lifeline.
GORBACHEV HECKLED AS COMMUNIST PARTY COLLAPSES
Soviet Parliament Chairman Anatoly Lukyanov, who was present during the session of the Russian Parliament, listens to accusations agaisnt him during the session
August 22, 1991
USA Today
Russian lawmakers made no secret of how little authority Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev retained after his arrest during the failed hard line coup this week. In front of TV cameras broadcasting to a national television audience they interrupted Mr. Gorbachev's address with heckling and demands that he abandon the Communist Party and dislodge it from its position in the Soviet government.
Gorbachev remained firmly on the defensive as three emerging factions of the opposition took turns attacking Mr. Gorbachev. Vice President Alexander Rutskoy and Russian head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky took turns making demands of the Soviet leader, who meekly complied with most of them. A third lawmaker, Mikhail Arutyunov, also attacked Mr. Gorbachev, although he failed to make any demand except his insistence on Mr. Gorbachev proclaiming the “dissolution of the Soviet Union.”
Mr. Gorbachev finally drew a positive, rousing response from lawmakers when he said "This whole Government has got to resign."
While a handful of the more reform minded members of Mr. Gorbachev's inner circle have already quit the Communist Party and joined forces with one of the three emerging factions of the opposition, a large number of communists, both Gorbachev loyalist and hardliners, find themselves increasingly isolated in this new political environment.
During the session, the Premier of the Russian Republic, Ivan Silayev, charged that Chairman of the Soviet Parliament Anatoly Lukyanov, Mr. Gorbachev's friend and most trusted aide, was "the chief ideologist of this junta."
Mr. Gorbachev, whom Mr. Lukyanov met when they attended law school together nearly forty years ago, said he had met with his old friend, but still had some questions of the loyalty of his long time aid. With the Soviet Parliament to meet in an emergency session of the legislature on Monday, the governing presidium of the Soviet Parliament announced that Mr. Lukyanov would not preside over the proceedings until the investigation to establish his role in the crisis reached a conclusion.
A new prime minister had not yet been named to replace Valentin S. Pavlov, who was one of the leaders of the coup and has been hospitalized under police guard since the coup ended.
In related news, several junta members were arrested including Dmitri Yazov, Vladimir A. Kryuchkov, General Valentin I. Varennikov, Valery Boldin, Vladimir A. Kryuchkov, and Gennady Yanayev. Coup plotter Boris Pugo committed suicide earlier today.
While Vice President Rutskoy and Deputy Mikhail Arutyunov called for the resignation of other members of both the Russian Supreme Soviet and the Supreme Soviet of the Union, Russian head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky indicated that he was not interested in “purges” but rather preserving the “Union.”
Excerpts from the book “Three Days in Moscow” by Edward Ellis.
Published by Random House © 1999
Moscow, USSR. August 22, 1991. 1:33 P.M.
As Gorbachev became even more marginalized during the course of the parliamentary hearing, the mood soon switched to one of radical extremism. Rutskoy, who was perhaps the only man more unpopular that Gorbachev at that point, resorted to “writs” issued in his name to shut down the Communist Party; writs that carried no authority. However, several members of the opposition screamed at Rutskoy for “writing the book for the Lithuanians and Ukrainians” on independence, noting that the other republics were following his lead and using the purge on the Communist Party to rid themselves of central authority.
“We should have democracy across the Soviet Union,” shouted one reformist deputy, “not just in Russia.”
“What about our countrymen who find themselves across some invisible line Stalin drew across the middle of the country?” asked one Liberal Democratic deputy, “are they to suffer at the hands of the barbarians so that you can have absolute power in a rump Russia?”
Rutskoy, perhaps recognizing that the mood was quickly turning against him, and recognizing chants from deputies to explain his actions during the coup, attempted to turn attention towards the one man who even his enemies could agree was more culpable for the sad state of affairs of the country: Mikhail Gorbachev.
Constantly demeaning and berating the Soviet president, Rutskoy tried to garner support to his position through increased bullying tactics, which in turn served only to alienate many of the moderates. Before long the mood had turned into one of a Stalinist era purge.
“When Russian Prime Minister Ivan Silayev called for the Chairman of the Soviet Parliament Anatoly Lukyanov’s head, we all sunk in our chairs,” commented one deputy from the Communist Party, “they were going after all of us, even the moderates. Anyone who was a communist was about to be accused of treason, and Gorbachev refused to stand up for us. If he couldn’t stand up for his friend, what hope did we have?”
It was at that time that Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who had just moments ago declared the Communist Party “dead”, single-handedly put the final nail in the coffin of both the Communist Party and the political aspirations of Vice President Rutskoy.
“You are all traitors!” he yelled as he turned towards the Parliament, “the communists are finished, we can all see that! But you still want to drag their corpse through the streets of Moscow while the barbarians and the Zionists are dragging our Russian brothers through the streets of Baku, and Riga, and Kiev! I say, put aside your anger at the communists and embrace your country, your Russian country which calls to you right now in desperation!”
Zhirinovsky then turned to Gorbachev and pointed his finger at the Soviet leader.
“Mr. President, the Communist Party is dead,” Mr. Zhirinovsky yelled, “and your choice is to live with a free Russia or die with the communists. Your loyalty to the party is understandable, but your loyalty to your country should come first. Will you join us?”
Gorbachev looked visibly shaken at the statement, as he meekly tried to defend the Party, calling on lawmakers not to blame all communists for the actions of a few. But Zhirinovsky interrupted him and again turned to his fellow members of Parliament, and spoke the words that would go down in history.
“Comrades,” he yelled, “we must act now. I will hereby declare that the era of purges in Russia is over! I am not Stalin! I do not wish to have show trials, I want freedom! Not just for me, but for the Russian who is locked in his home right now in Riga, afraid to show his face…in his own country! To the Russian in Baku who is fearful of a pogrom against his neighbors and family…in his own country! I stand for them. And I call on all of you to join me! Join the Liberal Democrats! I promise you all this…if you reject your previous ties to the Communist Party and accept this olive branch I offer, and accept the membership in the Liberal Democratic Party that I hereby offer to you right now, I will not seek any retribution nor will I seek any purges. I want what you want, a free and democratic country, and our country needs us now! Stand with me and purge your sins against Mother Russia from your conscience and know that your grandchildren will call you ‘patriot’ when they speak of you to their grandchildren! Join us and let us defend democracy and freedom for all Russians!”
For the first time that day the halls of the Russian Parliament was silent. None spoke as Zhirinovsky held his arms out as if being crucified on an invisible cross. President Gorbachev looked disapprovingly at Zhirinovsky, who still held himself in the comical stance in a desperate call for allies. Gorbachev was prepared to speak when he was again interrupted, only this time it was not a Russian deputy who stopped him in his tracks. Gorbachev looked on with horror as the spectator stood up.
“Comrade Zhirinovsky,” Soviet Parliamentary Chairman Anatoly Lukyanov said as he walked past his lifetime friend Mikhail Gorbachev and towards the podium, “I accept your offer of amnesty and hereby renounce my membership in the Communist Party.”
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MarshalBraginsky
Banned
Keep it up! Although would Zhirinovsky end up creating his Russian Empire the same way Milosevic tried with Serbia?
I have to really commend this timeline for not only really doing an excellent job with world-building, as an alternate history, but also for being well-written. The different narrators have different tones of speaking, making this sound more realistic. Kudos.
Lol, I'll do my best to keep the updates coming! I appreciate the support I've been getting from the thread, and i want to make sure I don't let the quality suffer, but also keep these post updated frequently. But I'm really enjoying working on this TL, and I've got some interesting developments in the next posts on how Zhirinovsky is going to try and hold the Union together...
We already can see that he admires Milosovic, and isn't afraid to imitate him. It's an interesting question, but we will get some answers in the next few posts.
PART NINE: HE BETRAYED US ALL
PART NINE: HE BETRAYED US ALL
COMMUNIST PARTY NO LONGER IN CONTROL IN USSR
August 24, 1991
By Bill England
Moscow Bureau of The Denver Post
MOSCOW -- Mikhail S. Gorbachev's faced the second major challenge to his presidency this week, as hundreds of deputies in both the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union and the Russian Congress of People's Deputies abandoned the Communist Party en masse. Nearly all of them left to join the once obscure political party founded by the Russian-head-of state Vladimir Zhirinovsky. In a development that would have been unheard of just a few days ago, the Communist Party finds itself for the first time since the Bolshevik Revolution as a minority party in both the Russian and Soviet Parliaments. Over the last twenty-four hours two hundred and seventy five deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the Union, or the Soviet Congress, announced that they were following President of the Supreme Soviet Anatoly Lukyanov in joining the Liberal Democratic Party. With the majority of the remaining 267 deputies being members of the second house of the Supreme Soviet, the Soviet of Nationalities, few elected to remain in the Kremlin, choosing to return to their respective republics.
“It no longer is a Union,” commented Chairman of the Soviet of Nationalities Rafiq Nishonov as he resigned his post and prepared to fly back to his home in Uzbekistan, “it’s an attempt to create a Greater Russia at the expense of the other Republics.”
Nishonov’s fellow chairman, Ivan Laptev, Chairman of the other chamber of the Supreme Soviet, elected to remain in the Kremlin, however he declined Mr. Zhirinovsky’s offer of amnesty and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of complicity with the coup plotters.
Liberal Democratic leader and provisional Russian head-of state Vladimir Zhirinovsky criticized both Laptev and Nishonov.
“What we want is a democracy that respects the basic human rights of our citizens, not the failed communist policies of Mr. Laptev,” Zhirinovsky told the Russian media, “and if Nishonov honestly believes he can run from freedom and hide in some self proclaimed Uzbek caliphate then he is signing his own death warrant. The Russian people will not tolerate an Islamic dictatorship in our country.”
Several reformers have criticized Mr. Zhirinovsky’s “olive branch” approach, stating that many hardliners have accepted his offer simply to avoid prosecution. Others fear that with such a large number of former communists now in the Liberal Democratic Party, that it may find itself unable to implement true democratic reform. However, the newly enlarged Liberal Democratic Party has appealed not only to former communists, both moderate and hard-line, but also some of former president Boris Yeltsin’s closest allies. Konstantin Lubenchenko, a liberal People's Deputy in the Soviet Congress, and chairman of the International Association of Parliamentarians, has joined the Liberal Democratic Party and has encouraged the extra-governmental organization of 190 reform-minded legislators to follow his lead.
“This is our opportunity to shape our country into a democracy,” Lubenchenko said, “This is our opportunity to build a better Russia for all.”
SOVIET TURMOIL; GORBACHEV QUITS AS PARTY HEAD; ENDS COMMUNISM'S 74-YEAR REIGN
USA TODAY
Published: August 25, 1991
President Mikhail S. Gorbachev resigned today as the head of the Communist Party, disbanded its leadership and virtually banned the once dominant party which possessed total control of the government for more than seven decades. However, it appeared to be “too little too late” as numerous communists have already bolted from the Party to join the reform minded Liberal Democratic Party, which has embraced a platform of “democracy and unity”. The move to disband the leadership of the Communist Party has done little to win Mr. Gorbachev any support from the Liberal Democrats who are now emerging as the power brokers in the Soviet Union. However, the actions of Mr. Gorbachev did appear to destroy his last bastion of support with the few holdovers in the Communist Party.
“He has betrayed us all,” screamed Supreme Soviet Chairman Ivan Laptev, as he was arrested in the Kremlin, “we counted on him to stand by the party and instead he throws us off like dead weight!”
The move clearly alienated the remaining members of the Communist Party in Russia and several of the other republics. In Russia another 87 deputies switched to the Liberal Democratic Party, giving Russian head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky a majority in the Russian Congress as well as the Supreme Soviet. With the sudden majority, The Supreme Soviet of the Russian Republic began impeachment proceedings against Vice President Alexander Rutskoy. Most Russians believe that Soviet Parliamentary Chairman Anatoly Lukyanov, who switched to the LDPR yesterday, will initiate similar proceedings against Mr. Gorbachev on Monday when the Soviet parliament holds an emergency session. Lukyanov has already issued two decrees, one declaring that all property of the Communist Party in the USSR is now to be declared property of the Liberal Democratic Party, a move that has proved controversial in some of the other republics. Mr. Zhirinovsky says that it his intention to privatize the Communist Party holdings and to enact market reforms such as the introduction of private property and a sharp turn to a free-market economy.
With Communism now collapsing across the Soviet Union, Mr. Gorbachev abandoned his efforts to defend the maligned party, but still refused to join any of the major opposition parties that have emerged in opposition to him. However, his actions appear to only be isolating the Soviet president further from ordinary Soviet citizens. Although Mr. Gorbachev seemed to be seeking some way of remaining a legitimate political leader, his reputation has been badly damaged over the course of the last week.
Mr. Gorbachev’s actions were accompanied by turmoil and political in-fighting in several of the Soviet republics. In a shocking move, Vice President Rutskoy accorded formal recognition to the independence of three of the Baltic republics, as well as promising the Parliament of the Ukraine, the nation's second-largest republic, that he would support its "right to be heard”. The statement was quickly attacked by Mr. Zhirinovsky, who called it a “treason" and a "sorry way to try and garner support from the West to his illegal claim to the presidency.” Zhirinovsky even hinted that the statement was more treasonous that the actions of the coup plotters. However, political infighting in the Ukraine has led to chaos and fears of a potential civil war as Ukrainian president Leonid Kravchuk appeared to have been ousted by Communist Party Chair Stanislav Hurenko. Hurenko, who claimed Kravchuk failed in his duties for “not sending troops to the Crimea to end the coup that was happening in his republic,” also renounced his membership in the Communist Party, and proclaimed the “Liberal Democratic Party of the Ukraine.” He subsequently issued three orders, seizure of all Communist Party property, and the arrest of pro independence Ukrainian politicians Levko Lukianenko, Dmytro Pavlychko, Ivan Drach, and Vyacheslav Chornovil. He also cancelled the scheduled special emergency session of the Ukrainian Parliament, which many Soviet observers believe was a precursor to a planned declaration of independence.
Hurenko told his colleagues that he could not allow a vote for Ukrainian independence in the special session, adding "nam bude bida" (there will be trouble for us).
The recognition of the independence of the Baltic republics by Rutskoy did seem to encourage the European Community to also recognize their independence. The Soviet Republic of Belarus, which is still controlled by communist hardliners, has indicated that it also may seek independence, citing fears of Mr. Zhirinovsky’s seizure of Communist Party property as a major reason. The Republic of Georgia is also believed to be contemplating independence as close Gorbachev ally Eduard A. Shevardnadze has fled Moscow and returned to Tbilisi, citing concerns about the “tone” of the discussion in Russia now.
The dramatic campaign against the Communist Party has led to its headquarters in Moscow being taken over by the Liberal Democratic Party. The party was also banned entirely in Moldavia and the Baltic republics. And in Leningrad the Liberal Democratic Party seized the Communist Party headquarters at the Smolny Institute, a symbolic location as the place where Lenin had his first headquarters.
Mr. Gorbachev's actions came after an emotion-charged day in which hundreds of thousands of Muscovites turned out to bury the former president of the Russian Republic, Boris Yeltsin, along with over one thousand other Soviets killed in the violence that followed the coup. Mr. Yeltsin, whose coffin was carried alongside three Muscovites killed in the Battle of Gorky Park, was posthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal by President Gorbachev, who was barred from attending the ceremony by his own Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Lebed, citing security risks.
CNN interview with Jack Matlock, former ambassador to the USSR
August 18, 2000
CNN: Was there any chance Gorbachev could have retained power?
Jack Matlock: Yes, he was perfectly set up to do it. Power in the central government was largely intact, and the opposition was fractured. But after his close friend Anatoly Lukyanov was implemented in the coup, he became somewhat paranoid. He didn’t want to align himself with the communists because he didn’t trust them. But they were the only allies he had. So when he started turning on the Party, they ran into the arms of Zhirinovsky, the only man who was willing to protect them.
CNN: And what about Alexander Rutskoy? Could he have emerged as leader?
Jack Matlock: That is doubtful. Rutskoy misplayed every hand he was dealt, and his recognition of the independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania won him no friends in Russia. The pro-democracy reformers regarded him with absolute contempt, and there was no way he was going to win them back. It was seen as a cheap ploy to get recognition from the one man whose blessing could have given him some limited claim to the presidency.
CNN: Who was that?
Jack Matlock: My successor, Ambassador Robert Strauss.
AFTER THE COUP; WITH CRISIS EASED, STRAUSS IS RETURNING TO MOSCOW
August 24, 1991
Associated Press
American Ambassador to the Soviet Union Robert Strauss said today that he would return next week to Moscow and present his credentials as originally planned for September.
Mr. Strauss refused to present his credentials to the hard-line coup government after arriving in Moscow on Wednesday and refused to formally take his post.
At a brief news conference, he declined to say who in the new Soviet Government he would be presenting his credentials to in September, but did add that, "It seems to me, really, that the winners are the principles that this country, our country, stands for - the principles of human rights and of freedom and democracy."
COMMUNIST PARTY NO LONGER IN CONTROL IN USSR
August 24, 1991
By Bill England
Moscow Bureau of The Denver Post
MOSCOW -- Mikhail S. Gorbachev's faced the second major challenge to his presidency this week, as hundreds of deputies in both the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union and the Russian Congress of People's Deputies abandoned the Communist Party en masse. Nearly all of them left to join the once obscure political party founded by the Russian-head-of state Vladimir Zhirinovsky. In a development that would have been unheard of just a few days ago, the Communist Party finds itself for the first time since the Bolshevik Revolution as a minority party in both the Russian and Soviet Parliaments. Over the last twenty-four hours two hundred and seventy five deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the Union, or the Soviet Congress, announced that they were following President of the Supreme Soviet Anatoly Lukyanov in joining the Liberal Democratic Party. With the majority of the remaining 267 deputies being members of the second house of the Supreme Soviet, the Soviet of Nationalities, few elected to remain in the Kremlin, choosing to return to their respective republics.
“It no longer is a Union,” commented Chairman of the Soviet of Nationalities Rafiq Nishonov as he resigned his post and prepared to fly back to his home in Uzbekistan, “it’s an attempt to create a Greater Russia at the expense of the other Republics.”
Nishonov’s fellow chairman, Ivan Laptev, Chairman of the other chamber of the Supreme Soviet, elected to remain in the Kremlin, however he declined Mr. Zhirinovsky’s offer of amnesty and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of complicity with the coup plotters.
Liberal Democratic leader and provisional Russian head-of state Vladimir Zhirinovsky criticized both Laptev and Nishonov.
“What we want is a democracy that respects the basic human rights of our citizens, not the failed communist policies of Mr. Laptev,” Zhirinovsky told the Russian media, “and if Nishonov honestly believes he can run from freedom and hide in some self proclaimed Uzbek caliphate then he is signing his own death warrant. The Russian people will not tolerate an Islamic dictatorship in our country.”
Several reformers have criticized Mr. Zhirinovsky’s “olive branch” approach, stating that many hardliners have accepted his offer simply to avoid prosecution. Others fear that with such a large number of former communists now in the Liberal Democratic Party, that it may find itself unable to implement true democratic reform. However, the newly enlarged Liberal Democratic Party has appealed not only to former communists, both moderate and hard-line, but also some of former president Boris Yeltsin’s closest allies. Konstantin Lubenchenko, a liberal People's Deputy in the Soviet Congress, and chairman of the International Association of Parliamentarians, has joined the Liberal Democratic Party and has encouraged the extra-governmental organization of 190 reform-minded legislators to follow his lead.
“This is our opportunity to shape our country into a democracy,” Lubenchenko said, “This is our opportunity to build a better Russia for all.”
SOVIET TURMOIL; GORBACHEV QUITS AS PARTY HEAD; ENDS COMMUNISM'S 74-YEAR REIGN
USA TODAY
Published: August 25, 1991
President Mikhail S. Gorbachev resigned today as the head of the Communist Party, disbanded its leadership and virtually banned the once dominant party which possessed total control of the government for more than seven decades. However, it appeared to be “too little too late” as numerous communists have already bolted from the Party to join the reform minded Liberal Democratic Party, which has embraced a platform of “democracy and unity”. The move to disband the leadership of the Communist Party has done little to win Mr. Gorbachev any support from the Liberal Democrats who are now emerging as the power brokers in the Soviet Union. However, the actions of Mr. Gorbachev did appear to destroy his last bastion of support with the few holdovers in the Communist Party.
“He has betrayed us all,” screamed Supreme Soviet Chairman Ivan Laptev, as he was arrested in the Kremlin, “we counted on him to stand by the party and instead he throws us off like dead weight!”
The move clearly alienated the remaining members of the Communist Party in Russia and several of the other republics. In Russia another 87 deputies switched to the Liberal Democratic Party, giving Russian head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky a majority in the Russian Congress as well as the Supreme Soviet. With the sudden majority, The Supreme Soviet of the Russian Republic began impeachment proceedings against Vice President Alexander Rutskoy. Most Russians believe that Soviet Parliamentary Chairman Anatoly Lukyanov, who switched to the LDPR yesterday, will initiate similar proceedings against Mr. Gorbachev on Monday when the Soviet parliament holds an emergency session. Lukyanov has already issued two decrees, one declaring that all property of the Communist Party in the USSR is now to be declared property of the Liberal Democratic Party, a move that has proved controversial in some of the other republics. Mr. Zhirinovsky says that it his intention to privatize the Communist Party holdings and to enact market reforms such as the introduction of private property and a sharp turn to a free-market economy.
With Communism now collapsing across the Soviet Union, Mr. Gorbachev abandoned his efforts to defend the maligned party, but still refused to join any of the major opposition parties that have emerged in opposition to him. However, his actions appear to only be isolating the Soviet president further from ordinary Soviet citizens. Although Mr. Gorbachev seemed to be seeking some way of remaining a legitimate political leader, his reputation has been badly damaged over the course of the last week.
Mr. Gorbachev’s actions were accompanied by turmoil and political in-fighting in several of the Soviet republics. In a shocking move, Vice President Rutskoy accorded formal recognition to the independence of three of the Baltic republics, as well as promising the Parliament of the Ukraine, the nation's second-largest republic, that he would support its "right to be heard”. The statement was quickly attacked by Mr. Zhirinovsky, who called it a “treason" and a "sorry way to try and garner support from the West to his illegal claim to the presidency.” Zhirinovsky even hinted that the statement was more treasonous that the actions of the coup plotters. However, political infighting in the Ukraine has led to chaos and fears of a potential civil war as Ukrainian president Leonid Kravchuk appeared to have been ousted by Communist Party Chair Stanislav Hurenko. Hurenko, who claimed Kravchuk failed in his duties for “not sending troops to the Crimea to end the coup that was happening in his republic,” also renounced his membership in the Communist Party, and proclaimed the “Liberal Democratic Party of the Ukraine.” He subsequently issued three orders, seizure of all Communist Party property, and the arrest of pro independence Ukrainian politicians Levko Lukianenko, Dmytro Pavlychko, Ivan Drach, and Vyacheslav Chornovil. He also cancelled the scheduled special emergency session of the Ukrainian Parliament, which many Soviet observers believe was a precursor to a planned declaration of independence.
Hurenko told his colleagues that he could not allow a vote for Ukrainian independence in the special session, adding "nam bude bida" (there will be trouble for us).
The recognition of the independence of the Baltic republics by Rutskoy did seem to encourage the European Community to also recognize their independence. The Soviet Republic of Belarus, which is still controlled by communist hardliners, has indicated that it also may seek independence, citing fears of Mr. Zhirinovsky’s seizure of Communist Party property as a major reason. The Republic of Georgia is also believed to be contemplating independence as close Gorbachev ally Eduard A. Shevardnadze has fled Moscow and returned to Tbilisi, citing concerns about the “tone” of the discussion in Russia now.
The dramatic campaign against the Communist Party has led to its headquarters in Moscow being taken over by the Liberal Democratic Party. The party was also banned entirely in Moldavia and the Baltic republics. And in Leningrad the Liberal Democratic Party seized the Communist Party headquarters at the Smolny Institute, a symbolic location as the place where Lenin had his first headquarters.
Mr. Gorbachev's actions came after an emotion-charged day in which hundreds of thousands of Muscovites turned out to bury the former president of the Russian Republic, Boris Yeltsin, along with over one thousand other Soviets killed in the violence that followed the coup. Mr. Yeltsin, whose coffin was carried alongside three Muscovites killed in the Battle of Gorky Park, was posthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal by President Gorbachev, who was barred from attending the ceremony by his own Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Lebed, citing security risks.
CNN interview with Jack Matlock, former ambassador to the USSR
August 18, 2000
CNN: Was there any chance Gorbachev could have retained power?
Jack Matlock: Yes, he was perfectly set up to do it. Power in the central government was largely intact, and the opposition was fractured. But after his close friend Anatoly Lukyanov was implemented in the coup, he became somewhat paranoid. He didn’t want to align himself with the communists because he didn’t trust them. But they were the only allies he had. So when he started turning on the Party, they ran into the arms of Zhirinovsky, the only man who was willing to protect them.
CNN: And what about Alexander Rutskoy? Could he have emerged as leader?
Jack Matlock: That is doubtful. Rutskoy misplayed every hand he was dealt, and his recognition of the independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania won him no friends in Russia. The pro-democracy reformers regarded him with absolute contempt, and there was no way he was going to win them back. It was seen as a cheap ploy to get recognition from the one man whose blessing could have given him some limited claim to the presidency.
CNN: Who was that?
Jack Matlock: My successor, Ambassador Robert Strauss.
AFTER THE COUP; WITH CRISIS EASED, STRAUSS IS RETURNING TO MOSCOW
August 24, 1991
Associated Press
American Ambassador to the Soviet Union Robert Strauss said today that he would return next week to Moscow and present his credentials as originally planned for September.
Mr. Strauss refused to present his credentials to the hard-line coup government after arriving in Moscow on Wednesday and refused to formally take his post.
At a brief news conference, he declined to say who in the new Soviet Government he would be presenting his credentials to in September, but did add that, "It seems to me, really, that the winners are the principles that this country, our country, stands for - the principles of human rights and of freedom and democracy."
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MarshalBraginsky
Banned
Question: what would the role Aleksandr Lukashenko be playing here? I'm not sure if he could ever be like Zhirinovsky or something.