Fall of the Evil Empire View 20110820

View 688 Saturday, August 20, 2011

The end of the evil empire.

Twenty years ago, in August, there was an attempted coup by the old line Communists of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics – USSR – against the “liberal communist” General Secretary and first elected President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev. As part of that coup a battalion of guards armor was sent to the White House, the seat of government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, which was occupied by Boris Yeltsin, President of the RSFSR. He had been elected in a reasonably free election getting 57% of the vote (rather than the more traditional results of an election in the USSR). Yeltsin resisted the hard line KGB-led coup against Gorbachev. The KGB leaders sent the tanks to the White House. Many citizens of Moscow turned out to defend the RSFSR President.

The tanks surrounded the White House with their guns pointed inward toward it. One tank commander, a lieutenant, was invited inside by Yeltsin supporters. An hour later he came out and told his commander “Sir, we’re on the wrong side.” The commander went in to meet President Yeltsin. An hour later he came out and gave orders. The tanks, which had faced inward threatening the building, rotated to face outward. The coup was effectively over, and with it the USSR and the Cold War. The evil empire was finished. On Christmas Day Gorbachev resigned as President of the no longer existing USSR.

In 1989 I made my only visit to the USSR as part of a group of journalists and academicians that included Richard Pipes. Roberta and I twice had breakfast with Dr. Pipes and we shared a seat on one of the tours, I think the one arranged by Armand de Borchgrave. It was a heady experience. Pipes and Possony had been friends and associates. Regan had held fast on Strategic Defense. At one point Roberta and I saw a Guards officer and his sergeant shopping in a hard currency store to buy food for his troops. It was clear that the troops were loyal to their officer; it was not clear to whom the officer felt loyal. And at the demonstrations in Pushkin Square the government sent truckloads of military cadets to the square; there was no sign of the Army garrison of Moscow.

There was rebellion in the air; two years later the USSR would be gone.

As part of the observation of the end of the Cold War, there is an appreciation of Pipes with some of his recollections. I can recommend it to your attention.