On 19 August 1991, a faction of hardline conservatives within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union initiated a coup d'état in a desperate bid to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev, the then-president and architect of perestroika and glasnost.
The plotters, alarmed by Gorbachev’s reforms and the potential dissolution of the Soviet Union, placed him under house arrest at his dacha in Crimea.
However, their attempt quickly faltered due to a lack of widespread support, both from the military and the public. The resistance, notably led by Boris Yeltsin, fueled mass protests in Moscow, which ultimately led to the collapse of the coup within three days.
The failure of the coup not only accelerated the disintegration of the Soviet Union but also marked the end of the Communist Party's dominance in Russian politics.
