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Witness History: Coup against Gorbachev

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19/08/2010 GMT

Coup against Gorbachev

BBC World Service - Witness History, Coup against Gorbachev

In 1991, a coup attempt against President Gorbachev hastened the end of the Soviet Union.

In August 1991, Soviet hardliners attempted to oust President Gorbachev. Alan Johnston speaks to a BBC journalist who was inside the beseiged parliament building in Moscow.

An attempted coup against President Gorbachev was one of the key events in the fall of the Soviet Union. Communist hard-liners tried to force out the president, but their failure ultimately paved the way for even more radical reforms. 

Alan Johnston speaks to a BBC journalist who was inside the beseiged parliament building in Moscow.

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