The August Coup

<p>The <strong>1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt</strong>, also known as the <strong>August Coup</strong>,<sup id= "cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Soviet_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat_attempt#cite_note-11">[a]</a></sup> was a failed attempt by <a title="Hardline" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardline">hardliners</a> of the <a title="Soviet Union" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union">Soviet Union</a>'s <a title="Communist Party of the Soviet Union" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union">Communist Party</a> to <a title="Coup d'état" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup_d%27%C3%A9tat">forcibly seize control</a> of the country from <a title= "Mikhail Gorbachev" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev">Mikhail Gorbachev</a>, who was <a class="mw-redirect" title= "Soviet President" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_President">Soviet President</a> and <a title= "General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Secretary_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union">General Secretary</a> of the <a title= "Communist Party of the Soviet Union" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union">Communist Party</a> at the time. The coup leaders consisted of top military and civilian officials, including <a class= "mw-redirect" title="Vice president of the Soviet Union" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_president_of_the_Soviet_Union">Vice President</a> <a title="Gennady Yanayev" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gennady_Yanayev">Gennady Yanayev</a>, who together formed the <a title= "State Committee on the State of Emergency" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Committee_on_the_State_of_Emergency">State Committee on the State of Emergency</a> (GKChP). They opposed Gorbachev's <a title="Perestroika" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perestroika">reform program</a>, were angry at the <a title="Revolutions of 1989"