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Article: Countering the counter-revolution. (how the Soviet republics reacted to the attempted coup)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- August 24, 1991
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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MOST Soviet republics rejected the attempted coup. Some did so firmly and others delicately, but the message was the same. They could react quickly because the coup was ineptly organised and, by past Soviet standards, not very frightening. There were no pre-dawn arrests, still less any summary executions. The opposition could still speak out, and it did.
All that the State Committee for the State of the Emergency could manage was to send columns of tanks towards some republican capitals, close down some television and radio stations (while leaving others transmitting as usual) and stop some newspapers. Nationalists in all the republics were encouraged by the ...