The Democratic Reforms

These two superpowers found themselves booked in a build-up of nuclear arms which was intended to disapprove the other from making an unprovoked attack. This long period of inter areaal tension was finally relieved somewhat when Mikhail Gorbachev was chosen in 1985 to succeed President Konstantin Chernenko as leader of the Soviet Union. As General Secretary of the Communist fellowship, Gorbachev introduced reforms which gradually ended the wintry war between the superpowers. However, those reforms also created new tensions among the more onlyton-down members of the Communist troupe.

One of Gorbachev's reforms was known as perestroika, or "restructuring." This restructuring include a reduction in nuclear weapons, the introduction of elements of a free-market system, and an effort to decentralize the power of the Communist party. Many party hard-liners considered such reforms to be unnecessarily extreme. One issue that was oddly troubling to the party hard-liners was that of the independence of the Baltic republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Gorbachev emphasized that he was touchking slow, conservative reform in this area. Nevertheless, "Gorbachev's apparent willingness to own even the idea of Baltic freedom further antagonized the hardliners and localise in motion the chain of events which led to... [the attempted] putsch d'etat" (Talbott, 1991, p. 51). another(prenominal) reform which troubled conserv

Morrow, Lance. (1991, folk 2). The Russian Revolution. Time 138: pp. 20-23.

The conspirators in the coup felt that it was serious to make their move prior to fearful 20. The significance of August 20 was contained in the fact that it was the date that Gorbachev had chosen for sign a union treaty with the Russian and Kazakhstan republics. This treaty was seen as a serious threat to the Communist party hard-liners because it was knowing to decentralize the powers of the g everyplacenment. Specifically, the treaty was intended to allow the republics to take over certain powers, such as taxation, state security, and the control of subjective resources (p. 33).

In addition, the proposed treaty was seen as a threat because it called for the installation of a new National Cabinet which would have represent some of the Communist party leaders their jobs (p. 33).

Gumbel, Peter. (1991, August 29). The vodka takeover - how not to mount a coup: The lessons from the Kremlin. Wall passageway Journal, p. A1+.

Mathews, Tom. (1991, September 2). The people vs. the plotters. Newsweek 118: pp. 34-44.

During 1990, conservative Communist party members were already starting to make plans for a coup. It is surprising that Gorbachev did not see the rebellion coming, because it had been foreshadowed "by a year of intrigues, threats and premonitions" (Keller, 1991, p. 1). Once the party leaders decided to try to overthrow the government, it became necessary to fit the Soviet soldiery involved. It was apparent that the only way the proposed coup could be successful was through the cooperation of the nation's military power. This cooperation was made easier by the fact that the Soviet Union was undergoing a decline in military power at the time. The leaders of the Soviet army were threatened not only by the structural changes that Gorbachev was pushing, but also by the fact that the Persian Gulf War had increased the U.S. military presence along the southern borders of the nation
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