ABSTRACT

As more Soviet Republics moved towards independence, and the powers and institutions of the Communist Party were being progressively dismantled, a group of leading Communists tried to seize power in Moscow, intent upon the restoration of Communism, and of the Soviet Union. But in Moscow itself, the head of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, rallied the forces for change, and forestalled the take-over. Within four and a half months, the Soviet Union had ceased to exist