MOSCOW - Only 50 percent of Russians could recall and correctly describe the events which happened on August 19-21, 1991, while 48 percent failed to recollect them or said they did not know what happened on those days, Levada Center sociologists told Interfax.
The percentage of Russians describing the events which happened 25 years ago as “a tragic incident with harmful consequences for the country and the people” declined over the past year (30 percent vs. 41 percent in 2015).
Approximately a third (35 percent vs. 32 percent a year ago) said it was merely “an episode in the fight for power in high places,” and 8 percent described those events as “the victory of democratic revolution, which put an end to the rule of the Soviet Communist Party.”
Some 27 percent of 1,600 respondents polled in 137 populated localities in 48 regions on August 5-8 were undecided.
Respondents tend to have a negative opinion of the actions of the GKChP (35 percent vs. 16 percent positive opinions). Fifty percent of respondents failed to answer the question.
As to who was right on those days, 15 percent said it was GKChP members, and 13 percent argued that it was their opponents; 39 percent said “they had yet to understand the situation” and 33 percent were undecided.
In the opinion of 22 percent of respondents, GKChP members tried to strengthen their position in the authorities in August 1991. Other respondents said the GKChP committee wanted to prevent the breakup of the Soviet Union (18 percent), to keep the Communist Party in office (12 percent), and to restore order in the country (8 percent). Thirteen percent claimed GKChP members did not have a clear program, and 28 percent had no answer to that question.
In the opinion of 40 percent of Russians, the country took an incorrect course in August 1991 (the opinion was shared by 47 percent in 2015). The opposite opinion is maintained by 33 percent of respondents (27 percent a year ago). As many as 28 percent of respondents were undecided.
In case of hypothetical recurrence of such events (an attempt to restore the Soviet regime) at present, only 16 percent of respondents would fight for democracy in Russia, 44 percent would not do so, and 41 percent are undecided.
The political crisis of August 1991 resulted from an attempt of a group of members of the Soviet administration to thwart the signing of a new Union Treaty. As a result of the conspiracy, Soviet President Michael Gorbachev was locked down in his residence in Crimea.
The establishment of the State Emergency Situation Committee (GKChP) was formally declared on August 19. The committee included Soviet Vice-President Gennady Yanayev, Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Defense Council Oleg Baklanov, Interior Minister Boris Pugo, Defense Minister Dmitry Yazov, KGB Chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov and some others.
GKChP banned the activity of opposition parties and movements and a number of newspapers. Troops were deployed to Moscow. Mass demonstrations and protests were held in Moscow, Leningrad and some other cities after the GKChP was created.
RSFSR President Boris Yeltsin and other leaders of the Russian Federation headed the resistance movement against GKChP. Yeltsin’s orders described GKChP as a coup attempt and subordinated Union executive authorities, including security agencies, to the RSFSR president.
GKChP was liquidated and its members arrested on August 22.
