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In 1991, hard-line Communists attempted to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev in order to stop his democratic and economic reforms and prevent the breakup of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev was scheduled to sign a new treaty granting more power and autonomy to the constituent republics within the Soviet Union. On 18 August 1991, leading conservatives in the Politburo and senior security officials seized control of the government and placed Gorbachev under arrest at his vacation dacha in the Crimea. They installed an eight-member committee to act as a transitional government. Soviet vice president Gennady Yanayev was named acting president.

Russian president Boris N. Yeltsin led popular opposition to the coup. He gathered liberal politicians and civilians at the Duma building and was able to convince military forces sent to arrest him to join the anticoup resistance. While the coup was supported by higherranking officers, most enlisted personnel and junior officers sided with Yeltsin. Meanwhile, many of the republics declared independence, and there were large opposition demonstrations throughout the Soviet Union. President George H. W. Bush condemned the coup, and the United States restored diplomatic relations with states such as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania following their declarations of independence.

Once it became clear that security forces would not support the new government, the coup collapsed on 21 August. Gorbachev was flown back to Moscow, where he resumed nominal control over the collapsing Soviet government. The coup leaders were arrested and eventually tried for treason. Yeltsin emerged as the leading political figure in the country. He banned the Communist Party in Russia and initiated a series of further economic and political reforms. By December, all 15 republics had declared independence, and Yeltsin formed the Commonwealth of Independent States among the former Soviet states. Gorbachev resigned and the Soviet Union ceased to exist at the end of 1991. Yeltsin was seen as more reformist and pro-Western, and Bush developed a close working relationship with the Russian leader, ushering in a new phase in American-Russian relations.

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