Episode 301 GEORGE H. W. BUSH The Soviet Coup (Part 1) Caught by Surprise

George H.W. Bush 1991 The Soviet Coup

2d ago • 47 mins

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On August 19, 1991, George H. W. Bush was woken up just after midnight to be told that Mikhail Gorbachev had resigned suddenly for health reasons as the President of the Soviet Union. That did not sound right to anyone.

What unfolded for the next three days was the entire world watching the unraveling of one of the two Super Powers of the past half century. Gorbachev was placed under house arrest in his Black Sea Dacha, and his vice President and the leaders of the KGB and the Army took over the country.

However, the coup was poorly conceived, poorly managed, and the plotters were often unwilling to to the things necessary to secure control of the country. They also miscalculated how much the reforms that Gorbachev had set forward in the Soviet Union had actually taken hold. The people were resisting the take over and a leader emerged who stood up against it all.

His name was Boris Yeltsin. This is the story of those three days in the next three episodes. It was a historic three days that changed the World.

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